Nugget Point
Interesting facts
- The nuggets are Triassic volcanic sandstone and siltstone whose layers, laid down flat, have been tilted until they stand almost vertical.
- The light apparatus was originally ordered for the Cape Saunders lighthouse, but construction delays there sent it to Nugget Point instead.
- The station was designed by the marine engineer James Balfour, who had arrived in New Zealand in 1863.
- The stone tower itself is only about 9 metres tall; its great height above the sea comes entirely from the cliff beneath it.
- The old lamp gave way to an LED beacon in 2006, and in 2020 the station was converted to solar power.
- The light shows two long white flashes every 12 seconds, a signature that lets mariners tell it apart from other lights on the coast.
Why it is worth it
At the northern edge of the Catlins, a narrow ridge of land runs out into the Pacific and ends in a white lighthouse on a cliff top, with a scatter of dark rock stacks trailing into the sea beyond it. These islets are the "nuggets" that give the headland its English name; in Māori it is Tokatā. Seen from the end of the track, where the ground falls away on both sides, the stacks line up one behind another into the swell, a view that changes with every shift of light and weather off the open sea.
The lighthouse was built in 1869 from locally quarried stone and first lit on 4 July 1870. Its light stands 76 metres above the water. It burned oil until 1949, then switched to electricity, first from a diesel generator and later from the mains, and has been automatic since 1989, maintained by Maritime New Zealand. The walk to it along the ridge, with views down both sides, is the real experience.
The headland is a scientific reserve of about 47 hectares, and the rocks are crowded with life. New Zealand fur seals breed on the ledges below the lighthouse, and sea lions and the occasional elephant seal haul out too; gannets and royal spoonbills use the headland. On the south side, Roaring Bay holds a small colony of the rare yellow-eyed penguin, watched from a hide so the birds are not disturbed. Southern right and humpback whales, orca and Hector's dolphins pass offshore.
Getting there
Nugget Point is reached from Kaka Point, a small seaside village about 8 km to the north, which is itself some 15 km south of Balclutha. Dunedin lies about 80 km to the north-east, and Dunedin International Airport (DUD) is around 65 km away. A sealed road, Nuggets Road, runs from Kaka Point to two car parks: one for the lighthouse walk, about 20 minutes along the ridge, and one for the short return walk to the penguin hide at Roaring Bay.
On these lists
From the encyclopaedia
Nugget Point is a coastal landform on the Otago coast in New Zealand at the northern end of the Catlins coast, along the road from Kaka Point. This steep headland has a lighthouse at its tip, surrounded by rocky islets. The point is home to many seabirds, including penguins, gannets, royal spoonbills, and a breeding colony of fur seals. Roaring Bay, on the south coast of the tip of Nugget Point, is home to a small colony of yellow-eyed penguins.
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